South Gallery: January 14th through March 18, 2016: Guest exhibit by Dennis Hodges “A sense of his soul” featuring photography of a “politician’s eyes series”
- This series of eyes photographed during recent elections in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania and Guatemala, attempts to give us a glimpse into the mind of the politicians that run today’s countries by focusing only on their eyes in the portraits from their political posters. Look, then, into the eyes of these politicians and gain a sense of their souls. Vote for me.
- The exhibit features 34 images from the artist’s “politician’s eyes series” Dennis has also incorporated a video into the exhibit from the series displayed in a vintage voting booth!
Sat February 20, 2016: 6pm Drinks and Discussion: A gallery talk by Dennis Hodges
Dennis Hodges: Bio
Dennis Hodges’ photography reflects how he views the world: as one huge creative playground where he tries to capture bits and pieces to share with others. He’s not constrained by certain themes; rather he continually tries new subjects as he finds them or borrows them. They build on one another and he finds that the story is evolving. Other artists work with a mix of media; Dennis does the same, changing techniques and cameras as the situation dictates.
Holding a Bachelor of Philosophy in Aesthetics and Humanities, Dennis is a skilled storyteller drawing on a variety of contemporary themes to create his narratives. His photographs have appeared in B&W (US), Black+White (UK), COLOR (US), and other prominent magazines, and in galleries, festivals and museums around the world, from Russia, Portugal and Spain to the U.S., Guatemala, Argentina and Australia. His work is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Robert I. Kahn Gallery, Congregation Emanu El, Houston as well as a number of private collections.
Born and raised in Kansas, Dennis currently lives in Kansas with his wife, Judit, after a long-term residence in Budapest, Hungary. An avid traveler, he has explored six of the world’s seven continents and tries to visit a new country each year, continually bring fresh cultural perspectives to his art.
Dennis Hodges
Website: www.dennishodges.com
Email: dennis@dennishodges.com
Mobile: +1.620.213.0258
Twitter: @dennishodges
A sense of his soul
“The eyes are the mirror of the soul.” – Proverb
The key feature of the human face is the eyes. When we first meet another person, we make eye contact. The eyes are what we look at when we talk with another person to ensure they understand us; to ensure we understand them. Eyes express the truth of what a person feels, thinks or believes. As writers and philosophers have noted through millennia, the eyes interpret what the soul believes.
In this context, then, the focus only on eyes in “A sense of his soul” strips away any cultural identification; clothing, hair style or other traits, characteristics or traditions that would identify a person from a specific area or culture are absent thereby making all subjects in this work equal in the eyes of the viewer. We can learn about them only from what their eyes tell us.
U.S. President George W. Bush, after his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, remarked that he “looked the man in the eye… [and] was able to get a sense of his soul.”
In Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Latin America, politics are still relatively unvarnished, few if any “handlers” exist and Photoshop is not liberally applied to photos. Political candidates use posters that include portraits of themselves to generate interest and, hopefully, votes in the coming election. Posters that, presumably, the candidates personally choose the portrait for. Portraits that the candidates feel best represent how they want to be seen and perceived by the voting populace.
This series, shot during recent elections in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania and Guatemala, attempts to give us a glimpse into the mind of the politicians that run today’s countries by focusing only on their eyes in the portraits from their political posters.
Look, then, into the eyes of these politicians and gain a sense of their souls.
Vote for me. A sense of his soul